QT-ESL 61 Irregular Verbs Group 1

In this episode we start our intensive practice with irregular verbs. We have tried to group them so it will be easier to memorize and thus learn them properly. First there is a listen and repeat section followed by practice putting short sentences into the simple past tense.

I hope this will help our hard-working learners who really want to perfect their English.

The script of the episode is found below in the PDF file and also directly on this page.

P.S. If you are interested in my philosophy of teaching and wish to get a lot of effective exercises have a look at QualityTime-ESL: The Digital Resource Book available in our store. There is also a lighter downloadable version of QualityTime-ESL: The Digital Resource Book, which already contains many of our podcasts and hundreds of other DOC files to help teachers elaborate an effective program.

Recording:

QT-ESL 61 Irregular Verbs Grp 1

Script in PDF:

QT-ESL 61 Irregular Verbs Grp 1

QT-ESL Podcast No. 61 Irregular Verbs Group 1

Hi! I’m Marianne Raynaud, and I’m here to help you improve your level of spoken English. This series of podcasts is designed to help you master English grammar. For work on vocabulary and pronunciation you can go to our other series called “Your English”.

Learning to use verbs properly is essential if you wish to be competent in English. The difficulty does not lie in conjugating the verbs as the forms are more or less the same according to the persons. The main difficult is learning the past tenses of irregular verbs. That is why we are going to devote several podcasts to this subject.

There is only one way to learn these irregular verbs. First study their meanings and then memorize the infinitive, the simple past and the past participle. This may seem tiring, but it is worth the effort as a great many of the verbs we use everyday are irregular verbs. To help you we have put them in categories. In this first group the simple past and the past participle are exactly the same. And the infinitive is always pronounced [i:] like the letter E, while the simple past and past participle are pronounced [e] like in the word "edge”.

First listen and repeat the infinitive with the sound [i:], followed by the simple past and the past participle with the sound [e]. Pay careful attention to the pronunciation.

to read read read
to creep crept crept
to feed fed fed
to breed bred bred
to deal dealt dealt
to lead led led
to mean meant meant
to leave left left
to leap leapt leapt
to feel felt felt
to keep kept kept
to meet met met
to sweep swept swept
to sleep slept slept

Now I will give the infinitive and you will give the simple past and the past participle. For example if I say “to read”, you will say “read” / “read”. And if I say “to creep”, you will say “crept” / “crept”.

Now you go on in the same way.

To practice some more let’s use these verbs in short sentences. I will say two sentences for each verb: one in the simple present and one in the simple past. Listen and repeat sentences with the first seven verbs.

She reads to the children.
She read to the children.
The baby creeps on the floor.
The baby crept on the floor.
They feed the dog at dawn.
They fed the dog at dawn.
He breeds ducks.
He bred ducks.
They deal in commerce.
They dealt in commerce.
He leads a nice life.
He led a nice life.
They mean well.
They meant well.

In the next exercise I will say a sentence in the present and you will say the same sentence in the simple past. Listen to the examples.

I say: She reads to the children.
You say: She read to the children.

I say: The baby creeps on the floor.
You say: The baby crept on the floor.

Now you go on in the same way.

She reads to the children.
She read to the children.
The baby creeps on the floor.
The baby crept on the floor.
They feed the dog at dawn.
They fed the dog at dawn.
He breeds ducks.
He bred ducks.
They deal in commerce.
They dealt in commerce.
He leads a nice life.
He led a nice life.
They mean well.
They meant well.

Here are another seven verbs in present and past tense sentences. Listen and repeat.

They leave a tip.
They left a tip.
They leap with joy.
They leapt with joy.
She feels happy.
She felt happy.
They keep quiet.
They kept quiet.
We meet regularly.
We met regularly.
They sweep the floor.
They swept the floor.
I sleep in a small bed.
I slept in a small bed.

Finally, I will again say the sentence in the present and you will say it in the simple past.

They leave a tip.
They left a tip.
They leap with joy.
They leapt with joy.
She feels happy.
She felt happy.
They keep quiet.
They kept quiet.
We meet regularly.
We met regularly.
They sweep the floor.
They swept the floor.
I sleep in a small bed.
I slept in a small bed.

That’s the end of this episode. The theme was suggested by my colleague Catherine Alhinc, who has made up the different groups. Visit www.qualitytime-esl.com to download the script. For more practice with vocabulary or basic structures try our other series called “Your English”. Teachers interested in more effective teaching can order “QualityTime-ESL: The Digital Resource Book” on a DVD or get it immediately in a slightly lighter downloadable version. Bye for now, and don’t forget to keep smiling.